Blue Scales
CH1 - Ocean's secrets
Summary: As a young merman, Percy's inquisitiveness often gets the better of him, but when he accidentally becomes wounded by ghost nets he is 'saved' and taken to the Demigod Marine Rescue and Rehabilitation centre. At first he's terrified, but then the centre's employees are something of a curiosity. Percico/Nicercy, Percy/Jason, Percy/Will
...
Bubbles race behind Percy, left in the wake of his beating tail. He swims wildly, blindly without a second thought to where he was heading, his attention was solely on the orcas in pursuit. Black and white dart closer and Percy fears for his life. He twists left, narrowly missing the sharp jaws of the alpha male. He tears forward, but the orcas waste no time adjusting their course to catch up with him.
Each movement causes his fins ache and burn with fatigue. Percy continues to swim against the current and barely notices the dark shadows looming in the distance. Behind him, hunting calls, whines and clicks echo in the open ocean. The pod knows if he reaches the safety of the reef, their next meal will be able to escape. So the orcas push faster and so does Percy.
As he swims closer, rocky outcrops seemingly rise from the murky waters below. Each one growing larger and closer together than the next. He watches breathlessly as fish dart out of the way and hide from sight. Percy cries out in terror. He doesn't want to die here, not without saying goodbye to his mother or father or even Triton. The reef is fast approaching and Percy listens as a few of his pursuers slow down and back off. Too afraid that the sharp corals would cut and maim their flesh.
The tip of one the orca's noses brushes against his fragile tail-fin and the predictor's jaw snap shut as Percy barely manages to squeeze between tightly woven corals and rocky ledges - a place they cannot follow. It's a near miss but his heart refuses to slow even as his vision blurs and the adrenaline leeches out of his veins. Percy stops to let out a string of mocking clips in retaliation to the frustrated screeches from the orcas.
Sighing in relief, the young merman floats down slightly before continuing warily into the forest of colours. Their silhouettes at the reef's edge soon disappear from his line of sight. Swaying side to side with each beat of his fins, Percy feels every second of his body's protests to any and all movement. He gasps as something snags his tail stopping him from swimming any further.
Percy twirls in the water to free himself but as his pupils slowly narrow into focus, he begins to notice the vibrate orange cords. They spiral and web, caught on coral and bob gently in the waters. Percy recognises it instantly. Waste left behind by humans that steal their food and leave their homes in ruin.
Beating his fin in anger, Percy swims in any direction trying to break free. Nothing seems familiar. The more he struggles, the more he becomes ensnared and the tighter the cords wrap around his body. He emits a hollow cry for help. Panic grips his chest as his breaths become shorter and shallower.
Percy wasn't the only one caught either. A few baby sharks wiggle futilely to escape their binds. Unable to breathe without swimming, they would soon suffocate and die. So Percy cried for them as well, but no one answered his calls.
...
Night fell and the waters were quickly consumed with a still darkness. The abandoned fishing wires lay dormant, stringing up Percy and the corpses of the sharks. His breaths were weak and drawn out. Throat soar from his screaming and tight from pain tolerance. The cords had sliced into his sensitive scales and ripped through part of his tail. His blood twirled sluggish from the cuts and Percy gritted his teeth to keep in control. The night drifted on and finally exhaustion overwhelmed the pain allowing Percy to drift into a fitful sleep.
...
Waking up to the sight of three humans was something even more terrifying than fleeing from hungry orcas. Percy screeches and twists, but with his body tightly bound there is no give. Their rough hands reach out to him and streams of bubbles pulse out of their scary faces. He remembers his mother telling of their monstrous appearance but up close they were the stuff of nightmares. They cut away the orange cords only to tie him up again in scarier black ones. Slowly, they pull Percy into a net with large chunky interwoven threading.
The next thing the young merman knows is the water's surface. Shivers rack Percy's body as the cold air meets his delicate skin and badly cut scales. They lower him down into their boat and then hands are on him. Something strings his arm like a jellyfish and suddenly a warm floaty feeling floods his inside. Percy huddles in on himself, curling his tail slightly sideways on instinct. His whole body feels really, really good and weightless. He whines as the blissfully feeling travels up into his head. Percy absently notices being lifted again into shallow lukewarm water, barely enough to cover half his body. The net is still underneath him, but one by one the black restraints are removed. His eyelids become heavier and Percy is just able to make out the dark figure of a human carefully wrapping the soft net around him again. Soon after the light from above seems to disappear, the weightless feeling progresses to tiredness. Percy cannot resist the sweet call of sleep before his eyes slip shut and his rapid breaths even out.
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